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The reason given for Sarah Palin's snub was that NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions was concerned about not wanting to upstage former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the fundraising gala's keynote speaker.
AP Photo

“Although the governor was unable to commit far enough in advance to be confirmed as the keynote, Sen. Cornyn has a great deal of respect and admiration for Gov. Palin, which is why he invited her to be his guest at the dinner,” said NRSC spokesman Brian Walsh. “He hopes she will be able to attend but recognizes she also has a lot of competing demands on her schedule, so he also understands if she is not able to make it. Regardless, she is an important leader in our party and is someone who Sen. Cornyn thinks very highly of.”

Malek, for decades a major behind-the-scenes player in the GOP, made note of his disappointment that Palin was not coming.

“Sarah Palin is one of the most popular and magnetic figures in the Republican Party, and it would have been great to see her at the House-Senate dinner,” Malek said. “But I guess it’s just hard in the final days to adjust a program that has been carefully developed weeks in advance.”

Niceties aside, this latest snafu involving Palin and the national party apparatus has left both sides deeply irritated.

Tired of being derided as the gang that couldn’t shoot straight, Palin officials want it known that they were not responsible for this latest mix-up. They say the governor was happy to appear and fire up party loyalists, but that, yet again, GOP operatives and officials in Washington would just as soon try to marginalize her.

But the dinner’s planners are equally exasperated with Palin. The NRCC, especially, is still irked about how she handled the original invitation in March, leaving the two committees scrambling to find a fill-in for what is their chief money-raising event of the year.

“It was Pete who had invited her to the dinner early on,” carped one campaign committee official about the initial process. “And she accepted, then unaccepted.”

It was Cornyn’s decision to move on and invite Gingrich, say House Republican officials, and his attempts to still bring her to the dinner are being seen by some as an effort to make amends with conservative activists who are miffed at him now in part because of his intervention on behalf of the more moderate candidate in the Florida GOP Senate primary.

But beyond one scheduling issue, this latest dust-up speaks to the ongoing turmoil within a beleaguered GOP. Palin is still a major draw — hence her original invitation — and many in the grass roots of the party think she’s got incomparable charisma and just-folks appeal. As Palin appeared in Auburn and elsewhere in Central New York this weekend, locals and even some who’d traveled long distances to see her encouraged her to mount a White House bid.

But many in the party establishment, mindful of her polarizing persona and the devastating caricatures that emerged last fall, would prefer she remain in Alaska and leave the party rebuilding to others who may appeal to the broad middle of the country.

Remind me to never put myself in view for public office. Ever word I say will be taken apart and lied about. My family will be torn to shreds and ridiculed by the left. I will be made fun of and laughed at all because I am smart and good looking. Such a deal.

I wouldn't deny that it's possible that Palin's "organization" (if there is one) might be a bit loose, disorganized and unfocused -- however, she still commands major-league loyalty among a lot of Republicans out here in the hinterlands, and I'd bet that the strength of her "grass roots support" would far outstrip that of Gingrich's. Palin needs to be a part of the national Republican campaign, in order for there not to be a small-to-medium revolt in the party. The Washington Republicans are boring - she says what the people want to hear.

This could also be about internal polling by the NRCC and/or NRSC that show that associating with Gov. Palin will be a liability in too many states in the 2010 Congressional and Senate races. As much as the base loves her, Sarah is not well-thought of by much of the country.

Frankly I'm quite tired of talking about the demise and infighting of the GOP. Most of it is not newsworthy. It has become newsworthy because too many people, mainly Dims and Libs, who intake of healthy portion, then go back for seconds, love to hear this crap.

I think the eventual leader of the Republican party has yet to emerge. I think that Republicans need to look outside of the current crop of candidates and find somebody who has less baggage, a good conservative record and star appeal. At one point in time I thought this might be Jindal. I think his handling of the emergency preparedness and recovery efforts from the last hurricane in Louisiana was magnificent. But, I don't think the Republican base really likes him. So, who will it be?

---- the gop. they can all follow specter. if you are a moderate you are a lib. time for a conservative party. these idiots running this country are losing it. wait till the ny times article tomorrow about how obama and his cronies are starting to get a little nervous because nothing they do is working.

She has no chance of winning any primary in the GOP. Every time she speaks out, I hear empty voice that does not carry any weight at all. She too extremely to far right or extremist. She is too weak on anything. Romney and Hackabee have a better chance of winning primary. I wish the woman from Texas "Senator H. Bailey" would run for a big office. She is well respected and experienced. Palin has not political skills but beauty contest.

It is only the rats and the media that keep pretending this poor woman has a future in national politics .

ROFL..your kidding right? This woman came to my State, a state that voted for Obama by 60% and drew thousand and thousands of people who all went crazy for her. Even more than Obama drew when he was here. People didn't like McCain but they loved Sarah.

If you don't think she will be a force in the future then you must have buried your head in the sand during the last election or spent to much time watching MSNBC.